Nose calamities

Keith and I were both woken at 4am this morning by Mike who said that his nose stud had come out...he said it had snagged on his top but we have our doubts...both of us said we'd deal with it at a more reasonable hour and packed him back off to bed!

When we woke again the sun was shining, so that was a relief, and it was noticeably warmer! We dropped Sophie off at work and went over to the Weston Favell Centre to visit the bank, only to find a very long queue. Some things never change! Of course, my weirdo radar was well and truly turned on and the man in front of us engaged us in conversation about how many businesses he was running and how he was hoping to buy a supermarket for £82,000... why he thought we wanted to hear all this, I'll never know!

We waited for almost half an hour in the bank as the queue was moving so slowly. Afterwards, I was in desperate need of a coffee so we went to BB's before setting off for Kettering to do the shopping. Once this was accomplished it was home for lunch and a chat with Sophie who had a bad headache. I said I would drive into work and take her some Ibuprofen and when we arrived she was a bit stressed as she is cooking all this week to cover for Maureen who is on holiday. I think the chat and the tablets helped as she messaged me later to say she felt a lot better.

In the afternoon I sorted some stuff out to either sell at a car-boot or to put on ebay and then it was time to go and collect Sophie. Heather has been at home with us all day so I'm not sure whether the relationship is back on between her and Mike. He seems a lot happier so that's something!

Before dinner we all played a couple of games of cards and I tried to put Mike's stud back into his nose. However, I failed miserably and hurt him quite a bit in the process, poor thing. I think it needs to be done professionally!

Rain, rain, rain

Today has been a dreadful day - it's rained non-stop and it's also been on the chilly side. What's happened to our summer?

We took Sophie to work and then returned home where I spent most of the day in the conservatory. gazing out at the sodden garden and the grey skies and working on my assignment that I wanted to try and send off this week. I haven't heard from the Citizens Advice Bureau yet and can't make up my mind whether this is a good or bad thing!

In the evening we watched the last two episodes of The Disappearance which I think has been brilliant, especially with the twist at the end. Roll on the next Euro drama!

Washout summer?

Today dawned beautifully sunny and warm but we have been warned that the weather is due to get worse over the next few days with heavy rain particularly on Wednesday. Grrr!

After dropping Mike off at school for a Sixth Form visit, and Sophie off at work Keith and I went home, had a quick breakfast and a shower and went into Northampton for his follow-up visit at the hospital with his consultant. We didn't have too long a wait and within half an hour we were being shown into an examination room.

The consultant examined Keith's "lump" above his scar and said that there was nothing he could do and that it would eventually lessen, but he had no time-scale to help him. He said Keith could go back to walking whenever he liked but to be careful of lifting heavy things. Hoovering, apparently, was fine to do!

Once discussion of that was over he said that the tumour they had removed had been cancerous but that everything else was fine and he'd be called back in December or early January for another scan. We walked out into gorgeous sunshine and blue skies and drove to see Mum for a quick cup of coffee.

After we'd had a chat we went to Tesco to get some things we needed before heading home for lunch. The weather in the afternoon deteriorated and we had rain and grey skies which was horrible. It was so lovely to see the sun this morning - are we in for a washout summer again?

Mum and Dad popped around in the afternoon for a cup of tea as I'd printed some travel documents off for them. Sophie was out in the evening to The Lamplighter with Hannah so as soon as they had gone we went to pick up Mike from seeing his friends and dropped Sophie off at the pub. By now, the rain was really heavy and driving was nasty, especially as it was also rush hour. I was glad to get home, pour myself a glass of wine and indulge in an episode of Insane Pools. How I wish I was in Florida right now!

Not what I was expecting!

The EU referendum fallout continues to rumble on with the Labour party in turmoil as almost 40 shadow cabinet ministers have resigned and Jeremy Corbyn faces a vote of no confidence in his leadership. The pound has fallen to its lowest levels in about 30 years and Britain has had all of its Triple A ratings taken away...are dark days ahead for us? Fortunately, some experts have advised that all this financial doom and gloom is a temporary blip and the best thing to do is not panic!

I had an interview this morning at the Citizens Advice Bureau office in Northampton and when Sophie asked if I was nervous, I said not at all. The email I'd received from the lady I was seeing had said we were just going to have an informal chat about my past work life and why I wanted to volunteer.

We all went into town as, while I was having my interview, the kids were going to get various bits of their bodies pierced...Sophie was having the tops of her ears pierced while Mike wanted a stud in his nose. I was very early so I walked half way down Bridge Street with them and then went back to the offices where I sat and read a magazine for a few minutes.

The lady I saw, Penny, seemed very nice and she took me to a small room and explained that I would have to do a numeracy test and then perform a role play about a faulty car at the end of our interview! She said she'd warned me of this in her email but she definitely hadn't! To be honest, I was a bit annoyed as the role I was going for was just for an assessor, which simply involves meeting people or talking to them over the telephone and referring them to the correct advisor!

Maths is definitely not my strong point and I was a bit dismayed to see the question - what is 37% of £209? Anyway, I gamely worked my way through the questions (most of which were straightforward) and then read the four page advice on dealing with a faulty car purchase. Penny came back into the room and we most certainly did not have an informal chat! She asked me lots of searching questions and then we did the role play which made me very nervous!

I was in the interview for about an hour and my poor family had to wait outside for almost that length of time as their appointment to be pierced hadn't taken very long at all. When I re-joined them I think I looked a bit shell-shocked and was most certainly in need of a cold Leffe!

We walked down to The Malt Shovel and enjoyed a drink and a hearty lunch. Sophie's new ear-rings looked great although she had had a fair bit of bleeding, Mike had a very small stud in his nose which looked much better than I'd imagined. They now have to keep them clean for the next six weeks which I will help them with.

After our lovely lunch Sophie and I walked back to where we'd parked the car and that was not a pleasant experience. Today has been warm and sunny and it was a fair slog back to the car park, especially with a full tummy! It's been ages since I went shopping in Northampton and I certainly won't be rushing back any time soon. It seems to be such a different town to when we first moved here and I much prefer going to Milton Keynes or Market Harborough.

Sophie had a nail appointment at 4pm so we just had enough time to go home, change and drive back to Northampton where I sat in the car and waited for her. It was lovely to sit and read the paper and watch various men stagger off down the road with cases of beer as England are playing Iceland tonight in the football!

Lazy Sunday

Yesterday I had a baking day and made two lots of muffins - chocolate chip and chocolate - and a Pineapple Upside Down cake, as we had an opened tin of pineapples in the fridge left over from when we had a gammon joint earlier in the week.

The Pineapple cake turned out really well and went down very nicely with cream! I'll definitely be making that again!

Sunday was a lazy day, although I did manage to tidy up the front garden (I didn't cut the grass as it was a bit wet and I was scared of cutting the cable again!) and do some ironing. Unfortunately I was in one of those moods when I knew I should have been doing something, but didn't feel like doing anything so therefore I felt guilty!

Proud parents!

I slept really heavily last night, probably making up for only having four hours the night before! I can't hack it!

Mike called this morning at 9am sounding very bleary and asked us to go and get him. When we picked him up he looked very hungover! All he wanted, he said, was to get home, have a shower, have a bite to eat and go to bed, although as I write this at 2.30pm he is still up and has scoffed down two of my chocolate muffins with a mug of tea!

He sent some photos to Sophie last night of Heather and him at the Prom:

We felt very proud of him!

History in the making...

I stayed up until 2am this morning, went to sleep and woke up briefly at 4am to see how the votes were going. The thing I liked was that every vote cast was being shown on television whereas in a General Election it's just how many seats the different MPs win. At 4am it looked very much like Leave would win by a narrow margin, which was a bit of a shock!

Keith and I went back to sleep and then woke up again at just before 6am to discover that Britain (or more likely England and Wales) had voted to leave the EU by a 52%/48% majority.

I can honestly say the shock was of seismic proportions with people not quite believing what they were seeing. Last night the predictions were for a very close outcome but with Remain being the winner. I'm not quite sure whether these polls will ever be believed again!

Of course, the news was shocking and even more dramatic was the decision by David Cameron to stand down as Prime Minister in October, a bit of a hasty decision, in my opinion. What I've found very upsetting today was the amount of venom and nastiness spewing out on social media and making it out as if the 52% who voted to Leave have been, and I quote, "Stupid, racist, foolish, that we've f***ed up our country, that the lunatics have been let loose to take over the asylum and that we should be ashamed to be English", etc, etc. Scotland and Northern Ireland have voted unanimously to remain in the EU so now it looks like Scotland will hold a second referendum to divorce themselves from the UK.

Keith and I do agree, though, that there should have been some sort of level at which any action was taken as it's clear that 48% of people who bothered to vote wanted to remain in the EU. The turnout was 72%, which is still too low in my opinion and I think that 16 and 17 year olds should have been allowed a say as they will be the ones who will be affected in the future. It would have been better if the majority had had to have been say, 60% of the vote, but it's happened, it's still a shock and we just have to get used to the idea that over the next year or two I suppose, we will no longer be part of the EU.

I also think that other countries will follow and I believe very strongly that the EU, as it is at the moment, is on its way out. We'll just have to wait and see and the next few months will be very uncertain.

Anyway, the sun shone brightly this morning and after taking Sophie to work, Keith and I went to BB's for a cup of coffee and a muffin before heading off to the hospital, where Keith had an appointment at the Urology clinic. The original problem he had with his waterworks seems to have been sorted since his operation (the catheter?) and he passed the "flow test" with flying colours. He has to go back and see his consultant next week but hopefully, after that, we will not have to go back to hospital for a long while! Fingers crossed!

We went home and Keith took Mike to have his haircut while I did some ironing. It's very warm today and the lovely sunshine of this morning disappeared in the afternoon to be replaced with grey clouds and rain.

I picked my Mum up from her house at 2pm and we went to collect Sophie from work before going to Beckworth for a cup of tea and a sandwich. Even though it was a Friday afternoon we still had to wait to get a table in the cafe. Sophie and I shared a sandwich and a slice of cake and they were delicious. We didn't have time to look around afterwards as we needed to get home to help Mike with his preparations for the Prom.

When we arrived he was already dressed and looking exceedingly smart! Sophie did a bit of titivating with him and he posed for some photos...

We dropped him off in Brixworth as he was going to the Prom with a friend but he'd forgotten his ticket so we had to meet Keith half way and go back to give it to him! I just hope that when I see him next he's not too much the worse for wear!

Referendum!

I haven't really mentioned the referendum up until now but I can say I'm heartily sick of it and will be glad when it's all decided, one way or another. Having said that, I intend to stay up as late as I can tonight to find out the results although the general opinion is that we won't really know if we're in or out until sometime on Friday morning.

Keith and I have obviously talked about it a lot, as I have with some of my friends and family. I am definitely voting to leave as is Sophie, but I think Keith is still unsure, although he is veering towards the Leave campaign. Sometimes I wish David Cameron had never called the referendum as I do think that it's a great responsibility for us all to have and if the vote goes something like 51% to remain and 49% to leave, how can that be good for the country?

My worries are that if we stay in the EU then our little country will become ever more crowded and more and more land will have to be given over to build yet more houses. I'm also worried that our unique British identity will be eroded away until we'll just be a mass of different cultures and nationalities.

Anyway, today has been the usual Thursday and before we took Sophie to work and went shopping we wrote out our weekly menu and our list. Today has been very cloudy and humid with some violent thunderstorms affecting some parts of the country. When we emerged from Aldi, which is always very cold, it was like coming out of a supermarket somewhere in Spain or Greece!

We picked up Sophie from work and MIke from Brixworth and on the way home we went to vote in the local Polling Station. Keith and I had planned on going for a drink afterwards, so we dropped the kids off at home and went back to the pub to sit in the window where we watched the village turning out to vote.

In the evening we started watching a French drama about a missing teenage girl (The Disappearance) and at 10pm we turned to BBC for news of the referendum. It's going to be a long night!

Some photos of our squirrel, Cyril...

Another hospital visit...

The lovely sunny weather seems to have disappeared for good as the forecast is for heavy, thundery rain and cloud for the next few days. Keith went to the hospital this morning for his research appointment and had a good chat with the nurses who run the session. He came back just before it was time to take Sophie to work and when we got home we had a delicious lunch of the leftovers from last night.

Mike was also due at the hospital today for a scan on his dangly bits...I really have had enough of all these health issues at the moment! I dropped him and Keith off and then went to get Sophie from work. As she was putting the Booker order away and wasn't finished her shift, I had a coffee and went and sat down for ten minutes. It perhaps wasn't the best thing to do as it made me think about my time there and everything we'd done over the years. Although a lot of changes have been made I noticed some little baskets in the storeroom that we'd bought in France for putting out biscuits and sweets and I felt quite emotional!

We drove to the hospital and collected the boys and then it was time to go home and mooch about for a while. I felt a bit guilty as I haven't done much today and the horrible humid weather means that it's a bit too wet to get out into the garden.

Our evening improved, though, as we played cards in the conservatory and I opened a beautiful bottle of Argentinian Malbec. Dinner was Spaghetti Bolognese and afterwards, when I was staring out of our front window, I noticed the people who own one of the rival play centres in Northampton walk past our house! They were delivering leaflets for the Leave campaign which surprised me! At least we have one thing in common!

Last school run?

Today was Mike's last exam and maybe even his last school day, unless he heads back to Sixth Form in September, which we are hoping he will do. It was typical that when we took him to school for 9am the traffic was horrendous and at one point we thought he would have to get out and walk as the jam was so bad!

Sophie was working today as well, from 10.30am until 2.30pm so we dropped her off and then went back to collect Mike. From school we headed into town as I had an application form for being a volunteer at our local Citizen's Advice Bureau and I wanted to drop it off and see where the office was. Volunteering would be a way of helping with my counselling course and it's something I'm really interested in doing.

After we arrived back home Keith and I went out again and did some shopping for the rest of the week. After going out to collect Sophie again I made the most of the fine dry weather and cut our back lawn as it was covered in daisies again!

In the evening Sophie's friend Daisy came around for dinner and the plan was for the girls to order pizza. However, the only restaurant that would deliver to us was in the middle of Northampton and it would take an hour! It's very annoying that we have so much trouble having takeaways delivered...it's not like we live half way up a mountain in the Scottish Highlands!

Keith and I timed our dinner to the girls' delivery and when the pizza arrived the man bringing it was very odd indeed and said that they wouldn't normally come so far out and asked for a bit more on the cost! Bizarrely he had brought four pizzas and not just the two they'd ordered!

A spot of shopping

We've had another morning of heavy rain and grey skies - not exactly what I envisaged for my first summer off!

At lunchtime we drove over to Milton Keynes as we needed to buy Mike a shirt and some shoes for his Prom on Friday. That seems to have come around very quickly! Sophie bought some cream in the MAC outlet in Debenhams and then we joined Keith and Mikey in Top Man where we picked out a lovely white shirt and some great shoes.

Sophie and Mike headed off to River Island while Keith and I went to a specialist watch and clock shop to try and get a valuation on a very different Seiko watch that Keith was given years ago. The man in the shop wasn't that helpful but said it was probably worth about £100.

We re-joined the children and walked over to the Xscape building as we'd decided to have lunch at Ask Italian. I'd found a voucher online for 30% off main courses so we thought we'd give it a go. I'd never eaten there before but Sophie was a fan and said the pizzas were very good.

The restaurant was almost empty so we were seated quickly and ordered drinks. Keith and I decided to go for the Pollo Milanese for our main courses, Sophie went for Linguine Carbonara while Mike had the Stromboli Pizza. We all munched on cheesy garlic bread to start.

My meal was OK, but nothing to rave about and the mushroom sauce that covered my breaded chicken breast had a slightly weird flavour. There was also a lot of green stuff on my plate that got stuck in my teeth! Still, we saved just over £14 with our voucher, although the drinks were on the hefty side with Keith's bottle of beer costing nearly £7!

After lunch we walked slowly back to the car and Sophie resisted buying any more make-up! She is being good! We drove home and spent the rest of the day relaxing in the conservatory with a game or two of cards over a drink. Keith went upstairs to watch the football in the evening while Sophie and I indulged in a film - Fatal Attraction. It was great to see it again and wonderful to witness Sophie's reaction to a couple of iconic moments in the film!

Celebrating Dads!

I woke up feeling a little groggy this morning and slightly under the weather. Not a good thing when I had so much to do! After we took Sophie to work I had some breakfast and then prepared the Coq au Vin I was making for tonight's dinner, when my parents were due around for a meal. I also prepared all the vegetables and made a Key Lime Pie.

By the early afternoon I felt better but I did have a lovely nap just as the Grand Prix started and when I woke up I felt a lot better. I hoovered downstairs and set the table and after having a soak in the bath I was able to relax for half an hour while watching Insane Pools!

Keith and I picked Sophie up at 6pm and I put the finishing touches to the dinner before Mum and Dad arrived at 7.30pm. My Dad had had a great day of doing very little and loved his present of wine. In the past I've bought him whisky but I get the feeling he now prefers a good bottle of red!

We had a lovely meal and a good chat over dinner. Outside it began to rain heavily and I did wonder whether we are in for a bad summer this year. Tomorrow is the Summer Solstice and the weather is supposed to be unsettled for the rest of the week. Not good!

An evening out

Today dawned overcast and grey which seems to be the norm at the moment! Sophie and I went off to Majestic in Northampton as I needed to buy some wine for my Dad for Father's Day. I chose three bottles of his favourite Rioja, Marques de Caceres, and bought a Gran Reserva, a Reserva and a Crianza. It was slightly more than I was intending to spend but I know he'll love the present so it was worth it.

On the way home we collected Mike from Brixworth, had some lunch and then headed off to Guilsborough to go to a flea market that I had seen advertised when we were going to the surgery. It was being held in the village hall and wasn't very large but we did have some lovely cake and a cup of tea and a chat with a couple of the stall-holders. People kept giving us funny looks, probably because we're not village natives and they wondered who we were! We had a couple of looks around the tables and although I saw some nice plants, nothing else really caught my eye.

In the evening we walked across the road to Sue and Paul's house for dinner. Unfortunately their garden is still not finished so my hope of sitting on their new terrace, gazing at the view with a chilled glass of bubbly did not materialise! We had the bubbly and the view but even if the garden had been finished we wouldn't have sat outside as it was still grey and gloomy.

Richard and Michelle, our new neighbours, were also invited and Sue had asked that each couple bring two bottles of wine so we could do a "Is It Worth It?" evening. Sue and Paul supplied a bottle of Prosecco and some Champagne, Richard and Michelle brought two Verdicchio wines from Italy while I went for an old stand-by, Chateauneuf-du-Pape and a bottle of Cotes du Rhone Villages. I'm very pleased to say that we all predicted which bottle was the more expensive!

We had a nice meal of lasagne, fried potatoes and salad followed by two delicious puds of lemon trifle or meringues. Bailey and Archie were very much in attendance and more than once I had a cold nose pushed onto my lap! The conversation, like the wine, flowed and it was midnight before we left!

Idiots on the road!

This morning I seem to have spent all my time driving about...and going nowhere!

I took Mike to school at 9am which was a bit of a shock to the system as he has got used to afternoon exams or not having to go in at all. After today he only has one exam left and then it's all over!

When I arrived back home I had just enough time to make myself a cup of coffee and some toast before it was time to take Keith to the doctor's and Sophie to work. I will be really glad when Keith is able to drive again! We left at 9.30am and headed off to Guilsborough via Brixworth. It was in the village that a man, coming around a bend, nearly hit me as he was on my side of the road. It was in the middle of the village and none of us could believe how bad his driving was! Instead of apologising to me, he just drove on and wouldn't look at us...he knew he was in the wrong!

I dropped Keith off at the surgery and then drove back to Northampton to take Sophie to work for 10.30am. The new company have imposed quite strict rules now and it meant that Sophie couldn't start work earlier than her allotted time. It would have been ideal in the old days to have dropped her at work after I'd taken Mike to school but it would have meant her sitting waiting for two hours...madness!

I left her at work and then decided to collect Mike from school on the way back to picking Keith up. However, I became embroiled in the mother of all jams in Moulton as a bus driver decided she couldn't fit through a gap between a van and a car and so made us all wait until the van moved. We were at a standstill for a good ten minutes and I was well and truly stuck! People were getting out of their vehicles and shouting at both the bus driver and the van driver but they wouldn't budge!

I got to the school at 10.20am but there was nowhere to park at all and there was building work going on in the grounds. I have a horror of getting in someone's way and them shouting at me so I made the (wrong) decision to go back to Guilsborough and pick Keith up as I was sure he would have finished seeing the doctor by the time I got there.

At the moment there seem to be roadworks everywhere and I had to negotiate four sets of temporary traffic lights on my way back to Guilsborough! When I got there I called Keith and he said he hadn't even been seen by the doctor yet! I knew I should have waited at the school!

Eventually Keith emerged from the surgery and we went to collect Mike who had been waiting almost an hour, poor thing! The doctor thinks Keith has a haematoma, a build-up of blood and other fluids that should disperse naturally. We were very relieved!

We went to get a newspaper and rewarded Mikey with a bar of chocolate which cheered him up so we were forgiven! My driving woes hadn't ended, though...on the way home we came across a Fiesta driven by someone who obviously didn't like to go fast. Once in the village, just before a crossroads, she came to a sudden halt and I nearly went into the back of her. There was no indication of where she was going, so in a fury I sounded my horn at her and managed to get past. It was a relief to get home, have a cup of tea and calm down!

Lunchtime gossip

We had a bit of a manic morning today as we had to do the shopping, drop off Keith's samples at the doctor's and tidy the house as my friend Lynda was coming for lunch.

Mike didn't have any exams today so we left him in bed, rushed over to the surgery in Guilsborough and then took the busy A14 to Kettering. Shopping was a stressful experience as both Tesco and Aldi were busy - whether it was because we were earlier than normal I don't know, but next week we'll stick to our usual time!

Once we'd bought enough food to last us until Sunday (we just didn't have time for a full shop) we dashed home, put it all away and then cleaned downstairs in readiness for Lynda who arrived at midday. She looked a bit tired and worried as she is having problems with her job at the moment and has been signed off sick for a month. She is adamant she doesn't want to go back at all. We had a great chat over lunch of dips, pork pies, pizza and chicken goujons and the children joined us so Lynda could see her God children! By the end of the meal she looked a lot happier and said it had been great to talk to me about her future. She is seriously considering taking retirement as she has a couple of pensions and we also talked about my plans to start a business or do counselling full-time.

The weather today has been another mix of sunshine and showers and we've had weather warnings for heavy and prolonged rain although we haven't had any thunder, which is a shame! I was all set to sit in the garden after Lynda left but Mike wanted a lift to Brixworth and by the time we came back the sun had disappeared behind some thick clouds.

I had a soak in the bath later in the afternoon and then a snooze on our bed while watching Pointless. It seems ages since we've done that! After collecting Mike from Brixworth we all sat and played cards in the conservatory and had a very simple supper of cheese and biscuits. I was still full from lunch!

More health worries...

I made an appointment for Keith to see the doctor this morning as he has a swelling near his operation wound that looks a bit suspect. He doesn't seem to have an infection, but it doesn't look right to me and we wanted to get it checked out.

We went over to the Guilsborough surgery and he went in on his own while I waited. When he came out he said he needed to have another blood test on Friday and to give in some samples to be on the safe side. I wasn't really expecting that so it's just more things to worry about!

We went home and I managed to do some more work on my assignment before it was time to take Mike to school for another afternoon exam. After we dropped him off we headed to Tesco at Kettering to buy dinner for the evening and to look at Father's Day cards and presents. I have no idea what to buy my Dad this year!

The weather today has been a mixture of sun and showers again and it feels quite humid. Needless to say it's ideal growing weather and our once neat lawn is looking a bit overgrown again!

In the evening we found an hour to go to the pub and we sat in the window with Sophie and had a good chat before heading home for dinner. We are both now worried that Keith's swelling is a hernia which means he would have to have another operation and a stay in hospital. I'm keeping my fingers (and toes!) crossed that it's not!

A job offer

I had an interview at 10am this morning (or a chat really) with our Accountant who has offered me a job in his office. I'd had plenty of time to think about the offer and was 90% sure that I wasn't going to actually take it but I thought it wouldn't hurt to find out a bit more.

I had to drop Sophie off at work a bit early and I managed to squeeze a quick cup of coffee in before I left to drive to the office on Brackmills. I was a bit scared I would be late! However I arrived on time and was shown into a small conference room where I had a chat with Phil. He explained about the job and I said that I was in the middle of a counselling course as I wanted to be honest with him about what I was doing. After a chat I was introduced to his office manager, Carol, and we had another talk about the job and what it involved. She was hoping to retire soon as she was 62 and was finding the workload a bit heavy.

I knew before I left that I wouldn't be going to work there. Carol was very nice but I didn't feel I could work with her and I had the feeling that although she said she wanted to do less and eventually stop working, she would find it very hard passing all her knowledge and skills onto me. Also, working in an office wasn't what I wanted to do until I retired myself so I knew that I would be contacting them to say no.

I drove home and Keith and I popped over to my Mum's house to help her with the weeding of her front garden. When they bought the house the front bit had been landscaped and quite a few plants put in, but weeds had started to poke through the bark chip that had been put down and they needed pulling up! We managed to pull them all up and the wheelie bin was a third full when we finished! As we worked the sky had clouded over and on the way home we had torrential rain. It's more like April at the moment rather than June!

We collected Mike and took him to school as he had an afternoon exam. We then had time to pop into Tesco at Weston Favell to get some bits before going back to pick up Sophie from work. She had been really busy and was more than ready to go home and relax! Keith and I had a chat with Maureen while we were waiting for Sophie to finish and she seemed a bit fed up with all the work that had been foisted on her lately! I think she misses us being in charge!

A quiet day at home...

Some photos from yesterday - from one extreme to another!

Mike was out at friends last night as he didn't have any exams today so we had a very leisurely start to the day. The weather has been horrible - constant rain and grey skies with no sign of any sun at all. It's forecast to be like this all week, unfortunately.

I spent most of the day in the conservatory but I did do a pile of ironing and Sophie and I cleaned downstairs. It's been one of those days of doing very little!

Let us eat cake!

So, it's the Queens's 90th Birthday today and the whole of Britain seems to be in a frenzy about it! Personally, I will be glad when it's all over and we can go back to normal! Even driving back from taking Sophie to work it affected us, as I came across a very slow moving convoy of vintage tractors and an old police car all heading for some fete or other. The local church was decked out in bunting but true to form, with all the street parties planned and events taking place, the British weather let us down with almost steady rain all morning and early afternoon.

I had suggested to Mum that we go to the village and partake of the teas and cakes on offer so I picked her up at 2.30pm and we headed off. I didn't think I'd be able to get parked at the village hall, but I was wrong so that was a bonus. We didn't bother with the open gardens, we just lunged straight for the tea and cake and I noticed that my muffins were still waiting to be sold.

Having said that, there were a lot of cakes left so maybe the weather had put people off. As we were waiting to pay for our afternoon tea Richard and Michelle, our newish neighbours, arrived so we had a good chat with them. They had very kindly given Keith a "Get Well" card after his operation so I was able to update them with how he was. Next weekend we're all going to Sue and Paul's house for dinner and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them better.

Mum and I had a cup of tea and some cake - Mum chose coffee and walnut while I went for the traditional Victoria Sponge and very good it was too. Richard and Michelle joined us so we had a very pleasant chat for half an hour. They are such a lovely couple - very down-to-earth and normal and I know that they will become good friends.

After our tea we wandered over to the plant stall and I bought four pots of geraniums for £1 each. Bargain! There were slightly more people about as the rain had held off and the village was looking very festive indeed. I dropped Mum off at her house and then returned home to find that Keith had almost locked himself out this afternoon when he went to help out Tom next door and shut the front door, forgetting I'd locked the back door! Luckily we have a spare key available so he was able to get back to the football!

Poppy thief!

This morning I was up early and making muffins for the Open Gardens taking place in the village over the weekend. I made a batch of twelve but Keith said they looked a little too cooked so I made another lot which were much better!

Sophie went off with Hannah at 10am for breakfast at Buddies in Northampton. I took my muffins over to Sue and Paul's house and Paul happened to mention that the glorious display of poppies in our planter at the entrance to the estate had disappeared... I was mystified as to what had happened but when Keith and I went out a few minutes later we saw that he was right.

We went to Jones's to get some bird food as I had stopped feeding the birds for a while because of the huge amount of starlings that have been coming to our garden. We had this problem last year with the parents and the babies completely overwhelming our little blue tits, sparrows and robins. They pooh everywhere, fight and squabble and eat all the food and are a complete nuisance.

Over the last couple of days, it's been quiet so I decided to try again with the feeders. I miss seeing our blackbird family and also the robin that is constantly in our garden. I bought some fat snax and some seed so I just hope the starlings have given up and gone somewhere else.

When we arrived home I went to mow the front verge and whilst doing it I cut the electric cable in half...The bush in our front garden is now very overgrown and it had hidden the cable so I didn't see it. Luckily the RCD unit kicked in and shut off the electricity completely! Keith came out and was not at all happy with me! However, he managed to save the cable and attached a new plug to it, grumbling away at me all the time! I didn't do it on purpose!

I then mowed the back lawn and Sophie came home, so we sat in garden with a beer each and admired my hard work.

I cleaned the bird feeder and all the containers and put everything back. As soon as I'd put a fat snax on the lawn a female blackbird appeared and started eating it. Had she been watching me?

I wanted to go and investigate the case of the disappearing poppies myself so Sophie and I walked down to the planter to find that the entire plants had been uprooted. Compare the two:

Thursday

Saturday

I know that a couple of residents are really angry about it and it appears we have a plant thief about. I shared the photos on our Facebook page and also sent them to other Facebook sites connected with the village.

I cooked Chicken Kiev for dinner in the evening and before we ate we all sat and played cards in the conservatory. The weather today has been mostly overcast but it's been quite humid. A good thunderstorm would clear the air nicely! Keith went to watch the football in our bedroom after dinner while Sophie and I watched two episodes of The Good Wife on Netflix. We're becoming hooked!

A titanic baking session!

The other week when Sophie and I went shopping in Milton Keynes we'd seen a Titanic exhibition being set up outside John Lewis and I'd promised my daughter that we would go, and take Mum and Dad as well as we hadn't seen them properly for ages. We picked them both up at 11am and took the scenic route to the town before parking outside John Lewis.

We decided to look at the exhibition first and I have to say it was a bit of a disappointment. There were some huge photos of the ship being built and a lot of references to her sister ship, the Olympic. I'm not sure what I was expecting to be honest, as the furniture on display wasn't from the Titanic (how could it have been?) but there was a pocket watch in a glass case that a man had found on the deck as he was about to board one of the lifeboats. He'd asked if it belonged to anyone but no-one had claimed it so he'd kept it and handed it down to his son. It was incredible to think it had been on the ill-fated ship. There was also a board with all the crew and passengers listed - those in red had perished and those in white had survived. All of the restaurant staff (mostly Italian) had died. It made for sobering reading.

We had lunch at John Lewis and of course Sophie and I went for the Moroccan chicken soup, which was delicious as always. After lunch we meandered about and we saw some HUGE glasses which I took photos of!

The wine glass is bigger than my Dad!

Rather than walk all the way down to M&S we drove down and managed to park nearby. This part of the shopping mall was very busy with people sitting outside in the sun and having lunch. Sophie and I went to Debenhams to look at make-up and then River Island where my daughter bought a pair of jeans and a top. She then treated me to a McFlurry before we headed back to M&S with Mum and Dad.

We took the long route home via Newport Pagnell, Tryingham and Olney and then sat in garden for a while. It looked quite stormy and Keith said it had rained heavily while we were out. He decided to go to the pub tonight as I knew he would. It was a good idea for him to get out of the house and get back to normal.

After I'd driven him down to the pub, Sophie and I went to see Sue as she'd bought us a heart for the conservatory. Her kitchen was full of scones and cakes ready for the Open Gardens event at the weekend. I'd promised to make some muffins as well but her baking went well beyond expectations! I just hope her help is acknowledged!

Getting back to normal

Today has been a lovely day - very sunny and warm - which made it a shame that Sophie was at work for most of it. Next week she's not working as many hours so let's hope we have some sun then! Mike was also in at school for an exam but I warned him that Keith and I were going shopping mid-morning and he might not be able to get a lift home until later! He had told me he was going to stay every day and get the bus, but that soon stopped!

I had been quite happy to go shopping on my own but Keith insisted on coming with me, perhaps he didn't trust me! We were all done and finished by 1pm, though, and just as we were about to make lunch the phone rang and it was Mike. Could I go and pick him up?

He was a lot more cheerful than the other day and chatted happily to me about his exams. I think part of the reason for him being so cheerful was that he'd spoken to Heather for a little while. I'm just hoping that after the stress of the exams they'll get back together.

I went to pick Sophie up at 6.30pm. a bit later than I'd have liked and was surprised to find Jeanette in cleaning with her husband. We had a long chat while Sophie finished clearing up so that was good. It's great to be able to stay in touch with our old staff so in one way I hope that Sophie doesn't find another job!

We returned home to help Keith make the evening meal of chicken curry. Things are slowly returning to normal!

A short escape

After last night's storm this morning was really muggy but it soon brightened up to another beautiful day with temperatures of 25c.

Sophie had a nail appointment at 11am and I was fully prepared to sit and wait for her, even though she texted me to say that there was a wait in the salon. However, I managed to get hold of my parents who were en route to the Weston Favell Centre so I arranged to meet them for a coffee in BB's.

It was a much more pleasant experience than sitting in a warm car and we had a good chat for half an hour before I went back to collect Sophie. From there we drove to the nearby Abington Park as we'd decided to have lunch at the Abington Park cafe. As you can imagine, on a warm and sunny day, the cafe was busy and we chose to sit inside by an open window as most people were sitting outside.

We had a lovely lunch of sandwiches, crisps and salad and chatted about the menu for the coming week. Sophie managed to persuade me to cook Jerk Chicken Pasta one day! After lunch we drove home stopping at the garage so Sophie could buy herself a bottle of lager for the evening! She also treated me to an ice-cream so we've certainly indulged today!

Back home Keith was sitting in the garden soaking up the sun and he offered to go over to Tesco with us to buy us some of our favourite tipples as a thank you for looking after him since he got out of hospital. Of course, we agreed with alacrity and off we went. Here is the result!

We had a very pleasant evening playing cards (all four of us) and I cooked dinner of Coq au Vin. I'd prepared it all this morning so it was just a matter of popping the casserole into the oven and cooking the veggies. Voila!

Evening storm

Both Sophie and Mike were out all day today - Mikey had two exams and Sophie was covering for Maureen at work who had taken the day off. I dropped them both off and came home to struggle with my assignment as it was overdue!

It's been another beautiful day today with warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine. At lunchtime I had a break and made a batch of choc chip muffins as my parents were due around in the afternoon to see Keith and have a cup of tea with us. After they were baked I finished the hated assignment and then went to put a colour on my hair as I'm fed up with the grey strands coming through!

Keith and I went for a little walk to the end of the estate and while we were reading the notices on the board we saw my Mum and Dad arrive. They were pleased to see Keith up and about and we had a very pleasant chat over tea and gooey muffins.

I went to collect Sophie up from work at 6pm and the sky was very threatening. By the time we'd arrived home it had started raining and over dinner the thunder and lightening arrived. Keith ate dinner with us tonight and Sophie and I celebrated with a cocktail each...I treated my concoction of Vodka, Triple Sec and orange juice with the utmost respect and only had one!

After dinner the storm carried on and going out to put some bottles in our recycling box was a hazardous affair!

Coming home!

Michael had an exam first thing this morning so I took him into school and then came home to do the ironing. Once that was finished and I was preparing the vegetables for dinner, the phone rang and it was Keith to say he was ready to come home! I'd spoken to him earlier in the morning and he said he could come home later in the day so I was delighted! My last trip to the hospital!

He was still a bit fragile and begged me to drive slowly and carefully on the way home as he still had a fair bit of pain in his stomach. I'm sure most of it is now down to the incisions rather than trapped wind. We arrived home without any mishaps and I got him settled. He's now my responsibility!

Mike called me to ask me to pick him up from school (so much for getting the school bus!) and on the way home he got very upset about his break-up with Heather which was a bit of a shock. He had a bag of his clothes with him and which he'd left at her house so maybe that was the catalyst for his sadness. Again, what a time to break up!

When I'd picked Keith up the nurse said I had to return to get some more of his medication so after making sure both boys were OK, Sophie and I went to Tesco to buy food for dinner for the next two nights and then to go to the hospital. I asked my lovely daughter to go to the ward for me as I just didn't have any more change for parking and at £3 for 0-3 hours I was loathe to pay for just a few minutes.

Sophie said the ward was hectic but she came out with what he needed and we headed thankfully for home. At last! No more visits!

Back at home we sat in the garden with the cat and soaked up the late afternoon sunshine. Keith didn't want to eat the dinner I'd prepared and I made him a bowl of soup with some bread. He's slowly getting better but I think we seriously under-estimated the effect the operation would have on him...hopefully this time next week he will be well on the way to getting back to normal!

A little wind has to blow...

I took Sophie to work as normal today and before going home I went to Tesco to buy dinner for tonight and to get some other bits and bobs that we needed. In our naivety we honestly thought that Keith would be home on Saturday but seeing how he was yesterday we now think it will be more like Monday or Tuesday.

Before going to see Keith in the afternoon I did some laundry and vacuumed downstairs. I'd spoken to Keith on the phone and he'd said he'd had a bad night and that his blood pressure was quite high this morning. I hated the thought that I had to wait until the afternoon to see him.

Mike said he had a friend coming over in the afternoon to help him revise for his history exam on Monday morning - it turned out the friend was a girl...he has broken up with Heather which is a shame and also very bad timing seeing as they are right in the middle of their GCSEs!

Sophie called to say she could finish work early as they were very quiet (the weather is glorious again) and it was great that she was able to come to the hospital with me. It wasn't the best of visits as Keith was in a lot of pain, both with his throat and his stomach and his tummy felt like he'd swallowed a large beach ball. I massaged the area and it felt very hard. A huge fart would have been great!

We didn't stay for long as Keith wasn't in the best of moods so we left and I said I would return on my own in the evening. Sophie asked me to call into a shop so she could buy a late lunch and like an idiot I decided to head into town by way of Abington Park. I had forgotten that the Race For Life was taking place in the park and the whole area was crammed with cars and thousands of people wearing pink tee-shirts. Both of us felt pretty low and worried about Keith and we just wanted to go home and relax for a while. Sophie bought herself a pasta salad at a nearby Tesco Express and treated me to an ice-cream.

We were able to go home and sit in the garden for an hour and I was relieved to find Mike and his friend revising in the conservatory. I went back to the hospital for the evening visiting time and I encouraged Keith to move his legs about to try and encourage the wind in his tummy to dissipate. I was very happy and relieved to see it had the desired effect but I'm not sure the people visiting the patient opposite appreciated the release of air!!

After this Keith felt a little better so I was able to return home with a lighter heart. Sophie had started the dinner for me (beefburgers, potato wedges and salad) so by 8pm we were eating and enjoying a glass of red wine. After dinner Mike said he wanted to go for a walk so Sophie and I settled down to watch The Good Wife. However, by 10pm Mike still hadn't returned and I was starting to worry. It was still quite light outside but I needed him home as I was thinking about going to bed myself!

Sophie and I walked out of the estate and down to our noticeboard but there was no sign of him. We waited a while and then returned home where I had made the decision to drive into the village. Just as we were getting ready to go he came home and this started an argument between him and Sophie who had been just as worried as me. He said he'd gone to look for a friend who'd gone missing - why he didn't tell me the truth, I'll never know! Teenagers!

In a pickle at the Chinese...

Sophie and I didn't have to be up early this morning so we were able to have a lazy start to the day, which was lovely. Mike was still at his friend's house but called me to ask him to pick him up at about 10am. He came home and said that the party he'd been to hadn't been that good, poor thing!

After he'd showered and had something to eat we dropped him off in Brixworth again on the way to the hospital. The grey, overcast morning had given way to a beautiful warm and sunny afternoon - let's hope it stays like that!

We were delighted to see Keith sitting in a chair at the foot of his bed looking really perky and wearing his own clothes rather than the hospital gown. He appeared to be much better and I took a photo of him and Sophie and posted it on Facebook so all his friends could see his progress.

We stayed for a couple of hours but towards the end of our visit he complained of pains in his tummy so we helped him into bed. We all think that it was air trapped in his body as his stomach was quite distended. Air is pumped into the patient's body during an operation so they can move other organs to one side and it seems that this was causing him pain. I said he would go off around the ward like a burst balloon if he wasn't careful!

Sophie and I went to Riverside after hospital and had a cup of tea at Costa. We then made a quick visit to Boots and went home where we just had time to decide what we were going to order from the Chinese van in the village. The plan was to collect Mike from Brixworth, go back to the village and order dinner and then return to the hospital but we decided to call the van from the car-park instead. I have to say I admired Sophie for calling as the man who takes the phone-calls isn't the easiest to talk to! We ordered our meal and then went to find Keith still in pain and looking a bit sorry for himself. We didn't stay too long and Ian (one of his ex-workmates) came to see him after visiting his own daughter who was also in hospital.

As we were a bit earlier than expected we dropped Mike off at home and asked him to set the table before going to collect our order. We could see that the two people were preparing our meals but then a woman appeared from the houses nearby and apologised to me profusely for having a large order. She said she'd just had a baby and had been on the wine and I think she was either a little drunk or a little high...why I needed to know all this I have no idea! She then gave the man a huge order and her boyfriend roared up in his open-top BMW. He shouted out more orders at her which made the poor Chinese man all the more confused! Another woman turned up to collect her meal which she had ordered, like us, earlier in the evening and then a white van arrived and a woman got out with two bags of food and said that her order was wrong!

Talk about a muddle! Sophie and I just stood there and watched the poor Chinese man and his wife get more and more confused but luckily, after only a ten minute wait we received our meal, and amazingly, it was correct! Phew! By now we were both hungry and tired and looking forward very much to a delicious dinner, a glass of wine and something good on the television!

Recovering

I didn't have a brilliant night's sleep last night as I was worried the phone was going to ring. Silly I know but it is a very worrying time at the moment. However, I spoke to Keith first thing and although he still sounded extremely drunk (the morphine I think) he was fine and had had a good night.

I took Mike into school for another revision session and Sophie into work and then came home to have a bath. Right in the middle of soaping myself the phone rang again and it was Keith asking me to take in towels and more pants for him. Sophie had spoken to him and was a bit shocked by how he sounded so she was quite upset. I told her not to worry and that he would need time to get over the anaesthetic. He was out for quite a while so would still be very groggy!

At 11.30am I collected Mike from school and made him some lunch. We then went into hospital at 1pm and took a load of stuff with us. Keith was still connected to a load of tubes and was very sleepy but the nurses said they were going to move him to another ward later in the day as he was doing well.

Mike was a bit bored and, like me, hates hospitals, so we popped to the cafe for a drink then went back up to see Keith. He was just about to be moved but we said we would go and that I would return later in the day with Sophie.

Mike was off to a party in the evening so I dropped him off in Brixworth then went to collect Sophie from work. As I arrived in the car park I could hear a very loud alarm and as I was parking all the customers started streaming out of the fire exit door. Sophie ran over and asked if I could help but as it's been almost ten months since the new owners took over I felt there was little I could do. I did go and see Maureen and I showed her what I used to do but it made no difference! The noise was ear-splitting!

Suddenly it stopped and it turned out that the nursery had gone home and had set the alarm! Why on earth they did that at 5.30pm on a Friday night is beyond me! With the panic over the customers went back inside and Sophie and I went off to the hospital. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of spaces in the car park and we found Keith's ward very easily. He was right by a window but was sweating quite a lot so we washed his face with a cool flannel and I washed his arms and put some deodorant on him.

He was still a bit sleepy but looked brighter than he had yesterday which was great. We stayed until 7pm then drove home to put the dinner on and to pour ourselves a much needed glass of wine!

Operation Keith

So today was the day I'd been dreading and Keith was up at 5am getting ready for his admission into hospital.

I woke up at 6am and had a quick shower and we both left the house before 7am. We parked very easily and walked over to the admissions department where we took a seat in the waiting room. I didn't know whether I'd have to say goodbye to him there, but a nurse called us into another room with beds and said I could accompany him.

We were both a little nervous but Keith tried to make jokes as he always does. A nurse came to take all his details and brought him a gown, compression stockings (lovely!) and some slipper socks so he wouldn't slip on the hospital floors.

Once he'd seen the Consultant and the Anaesthetist, he changed out of his clothes and into the gown and stockings. It was very difficult putting the stockings on and I was glad I was there to help him. Some people waiting for an operation were completely on their own. The consultant had spelled out all the risks to us both which made for alarming news and I suddenly realised what a serious operation it was. He would be in theatre for about four hours and was having a general anaesthetic, the first he's had since he was about 16.

As it was getting on for 9am now I had no choice but to say goodbye. Keith looked nervous which upset me a bit as he's very much one for putting on a brave face. I said goodbye and then went home to take Sophie to work. I didn't tell her about the risks as there was no point worrying her as well, but I wished fervently that she wasn't working today! Mike was at home but kept to his bedroom so I had a very anxious morning waiting for news.

Finally, at just after 1pm the Consultant called to say the operation had gone well and that they were just finishing up in theatre. I was mightily relieved! I called my Mum to let her know and then went to check my emails and to my astonishment found a message from our Accountant saying there was a possible job for me in his office. That was completely out of the blue!

It's been a good day all round as Sophie received an A grade in her Marketing exam so she was really pleased. I have no idea what to do about the possible job but I replied to say that I'll go down and see him and take it from there.

I was able to go and see Keith in the afternoon and he'd been put in a bed on the High Dependency Ward. He was very groggy and his face was quite puffy but he was in good spirits even though he was in a fair amount of pain. I stayed with him until almost 6pm and took back all the nightwear and underwear that he'd taken in with him. The nurses were very good and he was right opposite the station so they'll be keeping a good eye on him.

As I was a little early for Sophie I had a cup of tea and chatted to Maureen before we headed home. As Keith is not here for dinner tonight we had meatballs and pasta - the meal we always have if Keith is not dining with us!

Getting ready...

Today has been taken up with preparing for Keith to go into hospital tomorrow and it's been manic, to be honest!

Sophie and Hannah slept in until quite late and were just getting themselves a coffee when Keith and I left to go to Jones's. We needed some batteries and other bits and bobs and we also had to go over to the bank at the Weston Favell Centre. I have to say that the improvements they've made to the car park and the actual shopping mall itself have been lovely and it's looking much more modern and refreshed now. Sometimes I don't actually mind going there!

After Jones's we returned home so that Sophie could come shopping with us. We went to Tesco first as I was dying for a cup of coffee and Keith treated Sophie to a bacon roll. She was hungover hungry! The girls didn't have a lot to drink last night but I think it was the lack of sleep that was making my daughter a bit groggy this morning!

Once the shopping was all done it was home to unpack and Mike said he wanted to go and see a friend and could I take him into town? I agreed but it meant I was late getting back and had to squeeze in a quick sandwich before Sophie and I went to give blood at 4.30pm.

The session was running half an hour late due to an accident with the tea urn earlier in the day so we were held up until after 5pm. It was quite a relief to lie back and donate a pint and even nicer afterwards to sit and drink a cup of tea with a biscuit! We left in the rain and drove to East Hunsbury on the other side of Northampton to pick up Mike who had taken a bus to his friend's house from town. Getting back home in heavy traffic and pouring rain was not pleasant!

On the way we witnessed an accident that must have just happened...a car was on its side on the road but it looked like the woman driver was just shaken up and not hurt, thank goodness! Whether the slippery, wet roads were to blame I don't know but I took things a bit more easily after that!